• Nationality: English
• Father of Anne Boleyn and Maternal Grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I
• Lifespan: 1477-1539
• Born:1477 in Kent
• Married: Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
• Died: March 1539
• Family connections: Married into the great Howard family. Father of Anne Bolen who became Queen of England after marrying King Henry VIII. His great-uncle was the 6th Earl of Ormonde
• Character of Thomas Boleyn : Ambitious, learned, disloyal, selfish and cowardly

Information, Timeline, Facts & History about the life of Thomas Boleyn - Grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I
The following are additional facts and a timeline about the life and history of Thomas Boleyn - Maternal Grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I:

• 1477 : Thomas Boleyn was born at Hever Castle in Kent
  • In 1459 Sir Geoffrey Bullen of Norfolk, Lord Mayor of London in 1459 was the first of the Bullen ( Boleyn ) family to own Hever Castle. Sir Geoffrey Bullen had made a good marriage to Anne, heiress of Lord Hoo and Hastings, and - through her - acquired Hever Castle in Kent and Blickling Hall in Norfolk
• Thomas Boleyn was extremely well educated and fluent in several languages
• 1497: Thomas Boleyn served as a soldier to King Henry VII
• 1499: Thomas Boleyn married Lady Elizabeth Howard , daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
• 1500: George Boleyn was born at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, England to Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn
• 1502: Anne Boleyn was born at Blickling Hall to Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn
• 1503: Mary Boleyn was born at Blickling Hall to Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn
• 1505: Blickling Hall and Hever Castle were inherited by Thomas Boleyn
• 1505: Thomas Boleyn took up residence in Hever Castle, with his young family
• 1509: Thomas Boleyn was knighted
• 1512: Thomas Boleyn worked as a diplomat for King Henry VIII in the Netherlands and France
• 1515: Thomas Boleyn arranged for his daughters, Mary and Anne Boleyn to finish their education in France
• 1518: Thomas Boleyn was appointed Ambassador to France
• 1519: Mary Boleyn returned to England in disgrace. Her morals were in question and there were strong rumours that she had had affairs with members of the French court. Mary was also purported to have had an affair with the French King Francis I
• 1520: Thomas Boleyn was one of the chief organisers of the  Field of Cloth of Gold where King Francois I of France met King Henry VIII. This was probably where Anne Boleyn first saw King Henry VIII
• 1521 : Thomas Boleyn was appointed envoy to Charles V of Spain the Holy Roman Emperor
• Thomas Boleyn returns to the court of Henry VIII in England where he is joined by his children George, Mary and Anne Boleyn
• 1525: King Henry VIII has a brief affair with Mary Boleyn, the youngest daughter of Thomas Boleyn. As a result of the affair Thomas rewarded with the title Viscount of Rochford
• 1526 March 4: Mary Boleyn gave birth to a son, called Henry - he was widely assumed to be the son of King Henry VIII although not acknowledged as such. He was therefore the first grandson of Thomas Boleyn
• 1526: King Henry VIII became totally obsessed with his other daughter, Anne Boleyn, with whom the King fell madly in love
• 1527: "The King's Secret Matter" was no longer a secret. It became publicly known that King Henry VIII was seeking a divorce from Katherine of Aragon and Thomas Boleyn became deeply involved in furthering the ambitions of his daughter, Anne Boleyn
• 1529: Thomas Boleyn was an envoy at a meeting with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Clement VII, to seek support for the divorce of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon
• 1529: As a direct result of the affair of his elder daughter, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Boleyn was created the Earl of Wiltshire
• 1532: Anne Boleyn became pregnant
• 1533 January 25th : King Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn. Thomas Boleyn became father-in-law to the King of England
• 1533 September 7th: Queen Anne Boleyn gave birth to a baby girl who would become Elizabeth I
• 1534: King Henry VIII broke with the Catholic church in Rome and the Act of Supremacy was passed making King Henry VIII head of the Church of England. Thomas Boleyn was instrumental in coercing the clergy to adhere to the Act - he was a great supporter of religious reform
• 1535: The marriage of Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII was failing. Anne miscarried. The King turned his attention to a lady-in-waiting called Jane Seymour. The fortunes of Thomas Boleyn started to declined as his daughter's position with the King deteriorated
• Rumours about Anne circulated and men who were part of her faction disappeared one by one. Mark Smeaton, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Sir Henry Norris
• 1536 May 2nd: George, the son of Thomas Boleyn, was one of the men questioned and arrested, accused of Treason and incest with his own sister
• May 15th 1536 George and Anne Boleyn were tried for treason and incest in the Great Hall of the Tower of London
• Thomas Boleyn the Earl of Wiltshire, was no help to his children. He denounced the crimes of all the men accused and tried Mark Smeaton, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton and Sir Henry Norris who were condemned to death
• King Henry excused Thomas Boleyn from the task of condemning his own children, Queen Anne and George Boleyn
• Thomas Boleyn witnessed the executions of both his children
• 1536: Thomas Boleyn was forced to relinquish his position at court of Lord Privy Seal and retired to Hever Castle
• 1538 April 3: His wife Elizabeth died
• 1539 March 13: Thomas Boleyn died at Hever Castle

Famous Elizabethans - Thomas Boleyn - Maternal Grandfather of Queen Elizabeth
Some interesting facts and short biography information about the History, Life & Times of Thomas Boleyn. Additional details, facts, history and information about the famous Tudors and Elizabethans and important events during their times can be accessed via the Elizabethan Era Sitemap and the section detailing the life and times of Queen Elizabeth I.